Uncertainty looms over the timely election of municipal bodies in Bihar, earlier scheduled in April-May, in light of the recent Supreme Court order which mandates all states to follow the “triple test” criteria it had earlier set for quantifying reservations for backward classes in all local bodies’ polls in the future, officials familiar with the matter said.

The triple test includes setting up a “dedicated commission to conduct a contemporaneous rigorous empirical inquiry into the nature and implications of the backwardness as regards local bodies within the state”, to specify proportion of reservation required to be provisioned local body-wise as per recommendations of the commission, and that the number of seats reserved in favour of SCs, STs and OBCs taken together should not exceed 50 per cent of the total number of seats.

After the SC order on January 22, 2022, in which it reiterated that no state or union territory could be permitted to hold local bodies’ elections without fulfilling the “triple test” criteria, Bihar’s State Election Commission (SEC) has written to the urban development department (UDD) to take appropriate measures for compliance of the apex court guidelines.

The UDD is now seeking legal advice on the matter, said officials.

“We are seeking legal advice from the advocate general. A decision on constituting a dedicated commission to fulfil the triple test criteria would be taken only after that. This will take sometime because it is a complicated exercise. There are chances that the process would delay the conduct of election for municipal bodies,” said a senior official in the UDD, wishing not to be quoted.

Principal secretary (UDD) Anand Kishore could not be reached for his comment.

To mention, the Supreme Court in its order on January 22, 2022, had directed that no state or union territory can be permitted to hold local body elections with 27% reservation for other backward classes (OBCs) without empirical data on the population and representation of OBCs”. The Supreme Court had issued the directions after declining to recall its December 2021 order staying OBC quotas for Maharashtra local polls.

In municipal polls in Bihar, there is reservation for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes not exceeding 50% of the total seats. Besides, there is 50% reservation for women.

The last municipal polls in the state were held in 2017, after which over 100 new urban local bodies have been formed by upgrading panchayat bodies based on 2011 Census. At present, there are 263 urban local bodies (ULBs), which include 19 municipal corporations, 89 nagar parishads and 155 nagar panchayats.

SEC secretary Mukesh Kumar Sinha said the poll panel had sent a letter to the UDD and it was for the government to decide the modalities for complying with the triple test criteria as laid by the apex court. “ We don’t have much role to play in this. As of now, we are making ground preparations for urban polls, like constitution of wards of new urban local bodies and updating the voters’ list,” he said.